The Aftermath of Mount Woe: Kash's World
by Nanaki
Summary: Mount Woe AU. Chapter 4 now up! The newly crowned Queen Schala lifts the ban on all Earthbound Ones in Zeal Kingdom, but not everyone is immediately grateful, especially not her soon to be father-in-law...
1. The Turning Point

(Nanaki: Welcome everyone, to the first new Chrono Trigger fanfic by me since 1998! (Based on the Icy chronology, not the FFN one.) I'm not really sure where this story came from, other than me mulling over what Kash's home universe must have been like. At any rate, if you haven't read The Origin and Aftermath of Mount Woe, this story will make little sense. Hopefully, you'd still be able to enjoy it and care about the characters, but I STRONGLY recommend reading both parts of the Mount Woe duology first. Though it's not as necessary, I also recommend reading Mox Jet's "Chrono Trigger: The Planeswalkers" ahead of time, because that story factors into this one as well. There'll be a few more details at the end of this chapter, but for now, let's get to the story!)

**The Aftermath of Mount Woe: Kash's World**

**Chapter 1: The Turning Point**

By Nanaki

12,002 B.C.

Greven Vecar let out a loud "Oomph!" as his back slammed into the floor, and his vision dimmed as his head followed suit a split second later. Queen Zeal's dangerously sweet voice sounded muffled in his ringing ears.

"What did I just tell you? Now, there are some matters I need to discuss with you." She said very calmly, as if she wasn't perfectly aware that the wind spell she had just cast on him probably would have killed him if he hadn't been wearing his armor.

"Go screw yourself!" Greven shouted as he twisted around, trying to scramble back to his feet. That probably hadn't been the smartest thing to say, but he was too pissed off to worry about being smart.

"Spirited. That was in the report." Queen Zeal said, very dryly. There was even a slight smirk on her face, though it disappeared when she spoke again. "Now then, it would seem that you have violated my daughter."

"Violated? What do you mean? I love her!" Greven snarled as he managed to get to a kneeling position, at least. It was not the first time he'd made that claim to an angry mother of a girl he was sleeping with, but it was the first time he'd meant it. None of those other angry mothers knew how to use magic, though. He realized that if he wanted to survive this confrontation, he needed to be more careful than he'd been so far.

"You probably do." He was surprised to hear Zeal admit. "But still, you use her for your own ends."

"I would never!" He exclaimed, and again, he meant it. God only knew, being the King of Zeal was the last thing he wanted. If he and Schala could get married, that was the necessary evil he was going to have to accept in order to do it.

Queen Zeal's calm facade disappeared. "You men are all alike!" She snarled. "You all use people, without even realizing it! Karak used me to get power. Even Vigo used me, to satisfy his need for a companion, and physical gratification. Yes, those count as ends. And you're using Schala, for all three of those reasons, probably."

Greven couldn't believe his ears. He was dealing with some majorly skewed logic here, but since it was coming from the ruler of the kingdom, he had to treat it seriously. "How can you say any of that? Vigo was a great man!" The irony wasn't lost on Greven that he was now defending Vigo's honor to the man's own wife. "And by your definition, Schala is using me for those same reasons! It's a two way trade." He pointed out.

"Ha! I doubt that." Zeal snorted. "And even if you're right, it won't stay that way. You're going to get her pregnant, if you keep this up."

If there was one thing Greven was truly an expert on, it was how to NOT get a girl pregnant, even in situations where it was pretty much inevitable. However, this was not a good time to bring that up. "So what? I love her. I would be there for her." He said sincerely. "It's not exactly like you don't have the resources to raise a child." He pointed out. The talking had bought him the time he needed to recover, and he got to his feet with a groan, rubbing the back of his head gingerly.

"That's not the point!" Zeal shook her head. "My daughter doesn't deserve that kind of pain. You have no idea what it's like, do you?"

"No." Greven answered bluntly. "But she's not like you. It would be worth it to her." At this, Zeal's face contorted in rage, and Greven realized he had messed up.

"Quit talking like you know her!" Zeal snarled.

Greven immediately bit his tongue to keep his retort in check. 'I know her a lot better than you ever did or ever will!!' He glared daggers at Zeal, but spoke calmly. "Maybe I don't know her as well as you, but your daughter is the most important person in the world to me. I think we have that much in common." He said reasonably. "So, what is it you want me to do?"

Zeal tilted her head to the side a bit as she regarded him, clearly surprised. She thought about it for several seconds before answering. "Leave. Go back to Enhasa, or the Earthbound village, and never return here."

Greven tilted his own head to the side, cracking his neck, and flashed his most charming smile. "Sorry. Can't do that. I'm sure Schala would come to visit me all the time, but it'd still be awfully inconvenient."

"That's the POINT, you imbecile!" Zeal hissed. "Obviously, you can never see Schala again."

Greven arched his back now, feeling pain radiate from several spots, but his smile remained in place. "Why? You got someone else in mind?"

"No." Zeal said bluntly. "Schala doesn't need you or any other man. She and I will shortly be immortal, along with anyone else I deem worthy."

"Huh." Was all Greven said. "So, let me get this straight. Your plan for your daughter's future is an infinite amount of time, spent completely alone. I'm sure she'll just LOVE that."

"Maybe not, but she doesn't know everything yet." Zeal replied.

'And neither do you.' Was Greven's reply, but he remained silent.

"She's an idealistic young fool who's managed to convince herself that she's in love." Zeal sighed. "So much like her father, it's scary."

"She IS in love." Greven insisted, quietly but forcefully. "And so am I."

Zeal snorted, then let out an unpleasant chuckle. "Love is just an illusion, a fairy tale created by the dominant to keep the submissive happy."

Patience had never been Greven's virtue, and his had just run out. Even before the words left his mouth, he knew that they would lead to trouble, but they left anyway. "How incredibly sad it is," he began as his eyes narrowed, "that the fate of the human race is in the hands of someone like you!!"

The smile returned to Queen Zeal's face as it disappeared from Greven's. "And what is the human race, anyway?" She raised an eyebrow. "A collection of stupid thugs and hopeless dreamers, seemingly determined to destroy each other." Zeal took her eyes off Greven and looked out the window, her eyes seeming to see something that wasn't there. "Did you know, before the Global War started, there were over 100,000 people on this planet? Yet by the time Vigo and I were born, there were less than 3,000. And why? Because our stupid race couldn't get its mind off of revenge even when its own self-preservation was at stake. Humans truly are despicable creatures indeed..."

"You speak as though you aren't human yourself." Greven pointed out, somewhat at a loss.

"Not for much longer." Zeal smiled once more. "The power of Lavos will change this insane world! From now on, this world is going to run the way I want it to run. The people I care about will live forever at my side, and all others will die. I will never have to be afraid of anything again."

"Afraid?" Greven was surprised. "You already rule the world! What do you have to be afraid of?"

The Queen grimaced now. "Guilt. Regret. Remorse. Pain. Always the thrice-damned pain!" Now her eyes returned to Greven. "And the great irony of it is, the people I love most have caused me more pain than anyone else! Especially my beloved Schala, Vigo's only heir, who damn near killed me on the day she was born!" She took a menacing step toward Greven. "It doesn't need to happen again. The cycle doesn't need to keep repeating itself. The end starts now, and all I have to do is kill you!!" Zeal thrust her right arm out, and a gigantic lightning bolt raced out of her hand, arcing into Greven's armor and smashing him hard into the outer wall. Greven heard pieces of rubble crumbling over his armor as he sank back down to a kneeling position.

"Forgive me for this, Schala." He whispered, then jumped back to his feet. "Seraphic Judgment!" A huge blast of purple holy energy erupted from his torso and slammed into Zeal, smashing her into the opposite wall even before her cry of surprise reached his ears. "You filthy Lavos Worshipper! Your reign of terror stops here!" Greven quickly drew his sword and charged forward. Dalton stepped forward to block his path, and Greven ran him through, not stopping until his sword was buried up to the hilt in Dalton's flesh. He yanked the bloody blade out and hurled Dalton to the side. Dalton began to chant a healing spell while he was coughing blood. Greven turned back to Zeal, just in time to see a razor sharp icicle slam into his armor, digging into his side and drawing a fair amount of blood.

"Reign of terror? How cliche! Ha!" Zeal laughed scornfully. "As I recall, your original death sentence was for terrorism! It's far past time that sentence was carried out!" She sent another lightning bolt arcing at Greven, this one aimed right at where the icicle was protruding from his armor. The incredible heat actually cauterized the wound, while doing plenty of damage at the same time. Greven roared in pain and rage, dropping to his knees once again. However, his roar turned into a shout of triumph as the true Holy spell launched from his chest. Zeal's form vanished in a blinding white explosion, and when it dissipated, she was sprawled on the floor, gasping for breath. Greven lurched back to his feet and charged forward with his sword once again. As he pulled the sword back behind his head for a vicious overhead chop, Dalton's hand grabbed his at the wrist.

"Why won't you die?!" Greven yelled. He twisted out of Dalton's grip and spun down into a brutal horizontal chop that nearly clove Dalton in half. The wizard screamed and dropped to the floor, murmuring healing spells while he crawled away, leaving an ugly trail of blood. Greven turned back toward Zeal, too late once again. He was mowed down as two rainbow colored Shadow beams crashed into him, rending gaping holes in his armor. Even as he regained his balance, he threw holy arcs of all shapes and sizes from various vectors, followed by one monstrous purple beam.

Queen Zeal was ready for him this time, and nothing got by her magical shields. They began to circle each other warily, not breaking eye contact. "You're a tough little fool, I'll give you that." Zeal said dryly. "But let's see how you handle this..." Greven ducked down low as he recognized the two Shadow triangles of the Dark Matter spell, but looked up again a second later when nothing happened to him. The two triangles had merged together in midair, becoming a hexagon of light.

'Schala warned me about this!' He realized. His eyes darted around, looking for somewhere to run, but Zeal was standing between him and the only exit. Then a small lightning explosion erupted in the center of the room, and the hexagon of light shot into it. The raging blue explosion that followed finally caused the weakened outer walls to blow out of the tower. Greven could only hold up his arms to protect his head as the destructive energy surrounded him.

Then the roaring in his ears stopped. He looked up, surprised. He felt awful, but he was still here! Zeal looked at him wickedly, and prepared another spell. Her smile faded fast when nothing happened. "Your wavelength all used up?" Greven achingly got to his feet. "Good." A very unhappy expression formed on Zeal's face as the incredible energy of Holy was thrown at her. She screamed as the blue and green ripples passed through her, and then, incredibly, circled around and hit her again! Zeal disappeared in the blinding white explosion, and Greven let a smile briefly flash across his face. He had used up his wavelength now too, but it was worth it. Zeal was practically finished.

As the Queen struggled back to her feet, Greven raised his sword once again and charged forward with all his remaining strength. "For everyone you've ever wronged!" He shouted, as the blade, unwavering, drew close to her heart.

Then he found himself stopping dead in his tracks as something smacked against his chest with a wet kind of sound. He felt an incredible wave of heat burning his face. Looking down, he saw a stream of lava flowing from the floor, up to his chest. It almost seemed to be an arm, and its fingers were wrapping around him. He grimaced as the heat began to melt his armor, and tried to squirm free. "What is this thing?!" He demanded, slicing at it with his sword. In one last burst of strength, he broke free, and made one last charge toward Zeal.

As the sword neared her heart again, he suddenly felt unbearable heat on his arm, and then it was gone. So was his arm. The brief second of relief was followed by incredible pain as blood poured out of the now empty socket. His stomach turned at the smell of burning flesh, and he saw the blackened remains of his arm being tossed away by the lava. Greven staggered forward a few steps. "Zeal!!!" He reached out threateningly with his left arm. "I'll get you if its the last thing I do!!!"

"This will be the last thing you do." She said with a wicked grin. "But you're not going to get me." Then the lava reared up in front of her, smashing into him, covering him much more thoroughly than last time. He felt the skin on his chin burning, his pores working overtime to put out enough sweat to cool him down, to no avail. Molten metal began to drip in his suit, and he screamed. "Aaauuugh!! You'll pay... Aaauuugh!!... for this!!!"

"I doubt it." Zeal's smile did not waver. "No one can withstand the power of Lavos!"

"Golem Breaker!!!" Greven and Zeal's eyes both widened in surprise as a ragged blast of purple and green energy tore through the arm of lava, and Greven collapsed backwards, breathing very heavily, while the lava that had been on his armor quickly solidified into rock. Zeal turned calmly to see Schala standing in the doorway, and she merely raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe no ONE can withstand the power of Lavos, mother." Schala growled. "But now you're dealing with two."

.

"Worlds turn in crucial moments of decision. Make your choice." - Gustha Ebbasdottir, Kjeldoran Royal Mage, _Magic: the Gathering - Ice Age_

(Nanaki's note: I just want to clear up one potentially confusing thing. I'm sure even very devoted fans of the Word of Imagination (Or me specifically. That's okay too.) were confused by Zeal's mention of the "Global War" in this chapter. This is the biggest change I'll be making to the continuity in "Mount Woe Special Edition". The Global War is another name for the war between Allegan and Besroda, which you may remember is the reason Dalton hates Schala (and Vigo) so much. In the original Mount Woe, that war took place over three hundred years in the past. In Mount Woe Special Edition, it's been bumped up to the much more recent past, so that it ended when Vigo was three years old. Dalton's hatred seems much more understandable this way, and it also explains why, at the beginning of the story, every person in the world was living in the caves of Allegan: There simply weren't that many humans left, and they all lived together for safety's sake. All right, on to chapter 2!)


	2. Schala Transformed

**The Aftermath of Mount Woe: Kash's World**

**Chapter 2: Schala Transformed**

By Nanaki

12,002 B.C.

As Queen Zeal made no immediate move, merely regarding Schala with a curious expression, the Princess hurried over to Greven and knelt beside him. She quickly cast the most powerful healing spell she knew, pouring all the energy into it that she could muster. Greven's labored breathing quickly calmed, and his frantic eyes were able to focus on her, but his arm did not magically reattach, or regenerate. Scanning around quickly, Schala couldn't see his arm anywhere. Oh well, they would have to worry about that later. Schala also noticed that just about everything in her room that hadn't been vaporised was smashed and charred, including the doll that Grandpa Maro had made for her when she was two. Although that stood to reason. If her mother was willing to destroy what was most important to her, her lesser possessions probably hadn't even crossed the Queen's mind.

Even as she was aware that she wasn't really focusing on the main issue, Schala couldn't keep a sigh from escaping through her nose as she gently reached down and ran a hand along Greven's jawline. "Stay still, my love. You're hurt pretty bad." She said gently.

"No..." To her surprise, Greven immediately tried to sit up, awkwardly clutching at the floor with his left hand. "Believe me, it's going to take both of us. If not more." He managed to get to a sitting position, his left arm keeping him mostly upright. "Just help me get this armor off..."

Queen Zeal's eyes narrowed a bit as she watched Schala undo the buckles that still existed on Greven's ruined armor with infinite care. Far more care than was needed, really, since just about all of Greven's wounds had been healed. Near the base of the chest plate, some of the lava that had fused onto Greven's stomach had also bonded with the armor, and Schala carefully hammered at it with the hilt of her dagger until it came loose. "Hey, looks like you got some built-in armor, for the moment." She said softly, forcing a smile onto her face that she definitely didn't feel.

"Heh. Guess so." Greven smiled back. Zeal's eyes narrowed further. How could he joke around after he'd just been so close to death?

"Schala, just what do you think you're doing?" Zeal finally asked, in an eerily calm tone of voice.

"Taking care of my man." Schala answered simply, knowing that phrasing it like that would infuriate her mother.

"Your man?!" Zeal's face clouded with rage. "Your MAN is a wanted criminal, sentenced to death! And that is a sentence I will now carry out myself!"

Schala gave Greven's left shoulder a reassuring pat, before she stood and turned to face her mother, her false smile disappearing. "No, you WILL NOT!!" She roared at the top of her lungs, letting her own anger show. Zeal took a step back in surprise. "I really hoped that you wouldn't force me to make a choice between the two of you." Schala shook her head. "But since you've decided to force the issue, I choose him!!"

The Queen's eyes narrowed again. "Schala, you don't know what you're saying. You would choose loyalty to a silly crush over your own family?"

Schala just glared at Zeal for a moment, before replying. "Both of my parents died a long time ago." Before Zeal could argue, she continued. "You've let Lavos destroy the good person you were, and let fear govern how you live your life! You are completely unfit to rule this kingdom!"

The Queen tilted her head to the side in a curious fashion. "Schala, if I didn't know better, I'd say you were trying to turn this little debate into a coup attempt."

"No mere 'attempt', mother." Schala grinned dangerously, holding her dagger forward. "If you surrender right now, I promise you'll be treated well."

Out of the corner of her eye, Schala saw Dalton shuffling up to stand beside the Queen, looking like he was having trouble staying on his feet. "If you go through with this, you'll be facing me as well." He did his best to sound confident.

"Is that supposed to worry me, you no-talent hack?" Schala asked calmly. "If YOU surrender right now, Dalton, I'll let you live. And believe you me, that's a hell of a good deal. Sure, you'll be on latrine duty for the rest of your life, but even so, a good deal."

Zeal sighed as she stretched her arms out. "So, you force me to teach you a lesson. Very well." Lightning flowed from her fingertips, converging into one large bolt that raced straight at Schala.

Schala merely held her dagger forward, and its glow steadily brightened as it absorbed the electrical energy. "For your sake, I really hope that's not the best you can do." Schala grinned.

Zeal's face remained expressionless. "No, it isn't." She said calmly. Instantly, dozens of icicles burst into being around her, quickly forming up into two diagonally oriented rings that began to rotate around the Queen at a high speed. Schala and Greven both backed up into defensive postures, while even Dalton looked surprised. Schala was getting ready to cast her father's signature "Thunderflame" spell to stop the icicles, when she had a burst of intuition and realized she didn't really need to. As the razor sharp shards of ice began to shoot out of their rings, incredibly fast, Schala merely turned sideways, and the vast majority of them shot right past her. She used her dagger to bat a few of them out of the way, but it was clear that most had been aimed at her arms and legs, not vital areas. Greven, meanwhile, had dropped to the floor and pulled his legs up to his chest, relying on the armor plating that was still there to protect him. However, it seemed that none of the icicles had really been aimed at him.

'How did she do that?' Schala found herself wondering. It was virtually unthinkable that such a precise attack pattern could be a pre-existing feature of the spell, which meant that her mother had to have telekinetically manipulated the ice after it formed. But to manipulate so many objects in such a precise pattern was almost as unthinkable. Schala was a little worried now. "Well mother, I'm afraid I'm going to skip the warm-up." She forced a grin back onto her face, then drew in magical waves to cast another spell she had seen her father use, though only once, in this case. "Haaah... Shadow Flare!!"

"Damn!" Dalton quickly dove to the side, but despite the huge, incredibly dark explosion that caused the floor to rumble and cracks to run along the ceiling, he was relieved to see that this was a spell with one target only. He was even more relieved to see Queen Zeal looking none the worse for wear as the smoke cleared, a humming magical shield surrounding her.

A lopsided grin appeared on Zeal's face now. "For your sake Schala, I really hope that's not the best YOU can do."

Schala was not going to put her mother's cockiness to waste, and her hands instantly started making magical signs again, even as she drew in more power from the winds of magic. "Of course not. I'm sure the human somewhere deep inside you knows, Shadow is by far the magic type I'm worst with. Orbital Bolts!" Schala thrust her right arm out, and four blinding balls of crackling lightning flew toward Zeal. Each began circling the Queen in an apparently random orbit, shooting bolts of lighting at Zeal's magical shield in equally random intervals.

However, that shield didn't seem to be in any danger of giving out. "So, you have a fair amount of both raw power and skill..." She observed calmly. "But, it seems that you are unable to use both at once." A wicked grin returned to her face, then she whispered a single word, "Hallation." A rainbow colored wave of energy burst out from the walls of the magical shield, quickly engulfing the room.

Schala threw up magical shields of her own in front of both herself and Greven, but the rainbow passed through them as if they didn't exist. Schala felt as if all the energy was draining out of her body, and there was suddenly a stabbing pain in her abdomen. As blood began to ooze through her royal robes, she realized there were now fresh burns on various points of her body as well. It seemed as though virtually every wound she had received in her life had reappeared, all at once.

With a gasp, Schala realized that she was not the one in the most danger from that spell. She whirled around to find Greven writhing on the floor, blood pouring from his empty right shoulder socket once more, his torso covered with severe burns. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Zeal launch another icicle straight at Greven. Not having enough time to cast another spell in response, Schala dove forward. She knew it was going to hurt, but even so, she couldn't help letting out a gasp as the leading point of the icicle burst through her right shoulder, just before she landed on top of Greven. He let out a low groan at the impact, but that seemed to be all he was capable of doing.

Schala knew that, with his burns, this must be hurting him like hell, but for the moment, she was too incapacitated with pain to move. "Well, ready to surrender now Schala?" She could hear Queen Zeal's infuriatingly calm voice through ringing ears.

"Graah!" Schala cried out, a brilliant healing light surrounding both her and Greven in time with the outburst. The icicle in Schala's shoulder literally shot out, loudly bouncing off the ceiling. She could feel Greven's breathing slow beneath her, and as she put her weight on her arms, she was relieved to feel no pain coming from her right shoulder. "Well..." Schala groaned as she stood back up, "That was by far the least pleasant time I've been on top of you." Schala couldn't help a grin from appearing on her face in response to the horrified gasp that came from Zeal.

'So far, the psychological warfare seems to be working a lot better than the magical.' Greven thought as he got back to his feet as well.

'Well, let's change that.' Schala thought in response. 'Time for a double dose of Holy, in three, two, one...' They both turned back to the Queen in the same intant, three arms outstretched, rippling bursts of white, green, and blue energy erupting from their chests. Schala saw Zeal raise her arms in a defensive gesture, before her form vanished in the gigantic white explosion. Large chunks of stone fell out of the ceiling now, revealing the tile top of the tower up above. Cracks were radiating all along the tower wall as well. Clearly, they didn't have much time until the whole thing collapsed.

As the smoke from this latest explosion drifted away, the glowing shield around Zeal flickered, then dissolved into the air. Schala instantly launched the Thunderflame spell at her mother. "Don't let her re-form it!" She cried out over the roaring of the fire and lightning.

"Roger that!" A smile appeared on Greven's face for the first time in a while, and he began to hurl purple holy blasts at Zeal as fast as his single arm would let him. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dalton charging at him, sword raised. He turned to blast Dalton with a holy beam as well, but he could already tell it would be too late-

"No you don't!!" Something smashed into Dalton's left side, lifting him up off the floor before sending him flying into the wall. "You son of a bitch!!" Greven now recognized that it was Ertai whose fists were mercilessly pounding Dalton's face. "Just leave him to me!" Ertai shouted.

"Good work Ertai!" Greven shouted back. He launched another holy blast at Zeal just as Schala did the same. The Queen took a step back, then found her heel running up against the broken remains of the outer wall.

During the brief moment when Zeal looked over her shoulder, Schala saw her chance. She thrust her glowing dagger forward, focusing the magical waves inside. "Golem Breaker!!" A blinding, pulsating beam of holy and lightning energy raced right into Zeal's torso, nearly blowing the Queen apart.

"I... don't..." Blood flowed freely from Zeal's mouth, and she collapsed to the ground. "Believe it..." She finished with a wheeze. Blood was rapidly flowing out from under her still form. "So it's true," She coughed weakly. "Your powers do exceed my own." Suddenly, Zeal's form began to rise back into the air in a very disturbing way, almost as if it was suspended from marionette strings. "But they can never compare to the power of Lavos!" A red glow filled the room, and Zeal's massive injury disappeared in less than a second.

"Noooooooo!!!" Schala howled. She reversed her grip on the dagger even as she charged forward, burying it up to the hilt in Zeal's chest a moment later. Zeal merely tilted her head back and laughed, while a bright glow emanated from within the wound. Then, a burst of red light flashed through the room, and Schala was thrown back. Zeal yanked the dagger out of her chest and tossed it aside, looking none the worse for wear. "We're in trouble." Schala said quietly.

Now though, Ertai walked over to stand by Greven and Schala. It hadn't taken him long to realize that bashing Dalton's injured eye repeatedly was the quickest way to knock the mage out. "Sorry I'm late, guys." He said quickly. "Mr. Sneaky there cast some kind of sleep spell on the entire palace. So, what the hell is going on here?"

"Schala, this would seem an appropriate time for your surrender." Zeal said, sounding as calm as ever. "You've seen for yourself that you can't defeat me."

"We've got an avatar of Lavos to deal with, that's what's going on." Greven answered Ertai's question, then he turned back to Schala. "Well, I think it's now or never." Schala nodded, and began to stretch her arms out. "Wait, what about the catch phrase?"

"I never liked the catch phrase!" Schala responded. "You say it, if it's so important to you!"

"Fine!" Greven fixed his gaze on Zeal, who was waiting patiently, with a raised eyebrow. "Call us old fashioned if you want, but we've always believed in the 'big bang' theory."

"Oh? Just what is that supposed to...?" Zeal trailed off as a bright yellow ball of energy about four feet in diameter burst into being in front of Schala. Then, it slowly shrank, until it was little more than a pinpoint of light. "Hmm... A failed experiment?" Zeal wondered aloud.

"Not quite." Schala gritted her teeth. With the state the tower was in, this would likely be quite rough on the good guys, as well as her mother. She stretched out her hands to encompass the spark, then spread her arms outward quickly. "Hyaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!'

The spark exploded outwards, enveloping her, Greven, and Ertai, enveloping Zeal, then filling the entire room before blasting outside. The enormous explosion of light was visible from Enhasa, and every resident of Zeal who was outside at the time saw the weakened top of the tower crumble into the explosion, where it was vaporised. The gigantic sphere of light energy finally dissipated with a huge concussion, creating a sonic boom that rocked the air all the way to Kajar.

Back amid the flaming rubble and clouds of dust, Schala wiped the soot from her face with a sleeve that was itself spattered with blood. She was relieved to hear both Greven and Ertai coughing close by. Even though she had done her best to make the explosion go upwards, they had still fallen about ten feet when the floor beneath them was vaporised. Schala felt a slight pang of regret when she realized that the room she had lived in for the last seven years of her life was now gone, but it was replaced by a sense of relief as she saw Dalton's still form in the distance, small flames dancing on his cape. As the dust began to clear out, she saw Zeal standing about twenty feet away. The Queen had a very unhappy look on her face. She looked like she wanted to say something, but when she opened her mouth, only a ragged cough came out. Schala allowed a smile to creep back onto her face. Then, Zeal's angry eyes met Schala's. "You little bitch, that HURT. What WAS that, anyway?"

Schala's smile didn't waver. She stretched her hand out, and a second later, the Dreamstone dagger flew back into her open palm, shining brightly with the energy it had just absorbed. "THAT, mother, was Star magic." 'And it still wasn't enough.' She sighed to herself. 'There has to be a way!' She scolded herself. 'Father would pick apart those magical waves she's drawing on, and find some incredible new spell that would win this thing!' Of course, her father probably wouldn't have been able to bring himself to fight Zeal. But then, if her father was still alive, none of this would have happened... On that thought, Schala sensed Zeal drawing in the winds of magic being emanated by Lavos for another spell. "Heads up!" She cried, even as she threw up magical shields around all three of them.

"Merton." Zeal growled, and the room was instantly filled with an intense fire, driven by hurricane force winds. It took all of Schala's concentration to keep the shields going, never mind trying to find some sort of counterattack. "Impressive, Schala." Zeal admitted as the spell dissipated, seeing all three of her opponents still standing. "But I'm sure you've used up most of the winds those eyes of yours can see. I guarantee, I can do this longer than you."

'All the winds I can see...' Schala's eyes suddenly widened. "Guys, keep her pinned down as long as you can!" She cried.

"Yes ma'am!" Ertai cried, lightning instantly flowing from both of his outstretched hands.

"What are you doing?" Greven called even as he resumed hurling holy blasts at the Queen.

"I won't stop... until I can see everything!" Schala yelled, partly to Greven, partly to herself. Her eyes seemed to lose focus, but she was actually concentrating hard on the winds of magic in the room. As Zeal had correctly guessed, there were only a few left that Schala could see, but the clear implication was that there were more that she couldn't see... She reached out with her mind, searching for more.

Greven's eyes widened as he noticed a dull red glow begin to emanate from Schala's direction. Schala seemed completely unaware, but that dull red quickly grew to a bright red, then began to turn orange...

"Fools!" Zeal laughed. "You think a pathetic assault like this will stop me?!" The dual rings of rotating icicles appeared around her again. Greven dove for cover as Zeal launched the shards of ice at all three of them, while Ertai managed to divert those heading for him with another well timed bolt of lightning. The icicles aimed at Schala though, simply melted away to nothing as they came in contact with her orange glow, that was beginning to turn yellow. "What is THIS?" Zeal wondered aloud.

Schala barely noticed. She could see more waves of magic than she had before, but it still wasn't enough. 'More... There has to be more!' Schala's bright yellow glow began to take on a greenish tinge.

"Enough of this nonsense." Zeal snorted. "Shadow Lance!!" A midnight black beam of energy launched from Zeal's outstretched fingers, a low vibrating sound accompanying it. But as it came into contanct with Schala's brilliant green glow, it simply splashed off to the sides, not even coming close to touching the Princess. "What the hell is this?!" Zeal cried.

'I'm starting to understand, I think...' Schala barely noticed that the glow around her was now a blinding blue.

"Pour it on, Ertai!" Greven shouted, launching the true Holy from his chest yet again. He had definitely used up all the wavelengths he could see now, but he wasn't too worried. Not as long as Schala kept this up.

As the white explosion dissipated to reveal a still unharmed Zeal, the glow around Schala got even brighter, despite the fact that it was now purple. 'I can see it...' Schala realized. 'I can see everything!' Calling the energy she drew on "waves" or "winds" of magic was misleading, she realized. Though they certainly behaved in a wavelike way, they were actually composed of individual particles of energy. Millions of particles, possibly billions, just in this room, and the only reason she'd never noticed was because she hadn't bothered to look. 'Well, no more!' Schala promised herself. With that, the glow around her became a pure, blinding white, and Schala couldn't help yelling out in joy as she felt power surging through her body. "**HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!**"

"What?!!" Queen Zeal, Greven, and Ertai all cried at the same time. The white glow faded to reveal that Schala was now encased in roaring flames that alternated between blue and green in color. Her hands, neck, and face were covered with jagged, glowing blue lines, that almost looked like runes in places, or lightning bolts in others. One of the bolt-like patterns split on two on her forehead, curling down to surround her eyes.

Schala bent her knees, dropping down into a fighting crouch, while holding forward a dagger that was now virtually overflowing with energy. The look of desperation in her eyes had been replaced by a calm determination. "Mother, for the good person you used to be, for all the people you used to care for... And especially for the kingdom you fought to protect!" Schala growled. "I won't... let you destroy them!"

.

"Don't worry about me now! I know I'm where I need to be!" - Son Goku, _Dragon Ball Z_

(Nanaki's note: Did anyone else have Goku's Super Saiyan 3 theme thundering in their head at the end of this chapter? I sure did.)


	3. Nightmare's End

**The Aftermath of Mount Woe: Kash's World**

**Chapter 3: Nightmare's End**

By Nanaki

12,002 B.C.

"It's over." Schala stated simply. She did her best to focus all the winds of magic now howling around her, and the otherworldly flames surrounding her body grew in intensity. However, Schala was now staring at the Dreamstone dagger in her hand, which was giving off a glow that could not be entirely explained by the energy it had absorbed. It grew steadily brighter until it was just a blinding outline. Then, the outline itself began to grow. Lightning arced along the growing blade, and up Schala's arm, but it didn't hurt at all. When the glow faded a few seconds later, the single edged dagger had been transformed into a double edged Dreamstone short sword. "Whoah, I wasn't expecting that." Schala said aloud. "But I'll take it!" She charged toward Queen Zeal, whose hands were glowing with Shadow energy.

Schala merely slipped to the side as the thrumming Shadow Lance blasted by, then guided her sword up toward Zeal's head. The Queen's head was separated from her shoulders, but no blood came from the wound, and the head landed neatly back where it had been, the flesh clearly beginning to reattach. "Comet Cluster!!" Schala pointed two fingers at Zeal even as she jumped backwards. A dozen large, fiery rocks appeared all around Zeal, then smashed into her with incredible force. Greven and Ertai took cover from the debris being thrown around by the explosion, while cracks began radiating along the walls of this floor of the tower as well. Schala stood calmly as the smoke cleared, hoping, but not really expecting, that it was over.

Instead, icicles began flying out of the smoke, definitely aimed at vital areas this time. However, Schala found that she could bat them out of the air with her sword without much trouble. It wasn't that the icicles were moving slower than before, but the winds of magic in the room were clearly indicating where the next icicles were about to come from. 'What HAS happened to me, anyway?' Schala wondered, not that she needed an explanation to enjoy it. She was revelling in her newfound power, and could imagine nothing more satisfying than spending the next hour batting her mother's spells away like the trivial things they were.

'Don't underestimate her!!' Schala yelled at herself. Zeal might not have had Vigo's raw talent for magic, but she had been Vigo's wife for nine years. Augmented with the power of Lavos, who knew what tricks Zeal still had in store? No, this battle needed to end quickly. "Have a taste of your own medicine, Mother!" Schala cried. Instantly, about forty fist sized rocks surrounded her, glowing red with heat. They quickly formed up into two diagonal rings, then began spinning rapidly, just like Zeal's icicles. But, they kept on increasing in speed, until Schala appeared to be surrounded by two solid rings. "Here we go!" The blazing rocks shot out at Zeal insanely fast, and should have been depleted in under two seconds. However, Schala was creating more just as fast as she was firing them.

Zeal had raised another magical shield at first, but the rain of meteors tore it to shreds in just a few seconds. She quickly took off running UP the wall of the tower, causing some raised eyebrows. Zeal managed to buy herself just enough time to open a magical singularity between Schala and herself, which the meteors disappeared into. Schala quickly stopped her spell, then walked to the side, to regard her mother where she stood calmly on the wall, parellel to the ground. "It's over." Schala said again. "I'll give you one final chance, Mother. Surrender."

"Surrendering is for the one who LOSES a battle. Which would be you!" The Queen roared. "Ultimaaaaaa!!!" The walls of the tower instantly blew outward, to be followed by the floor a second later. Once again, Zeal found herself floating slowly down to the floor below, glad to not be on the receiving end this time. However, as she found herself squinting through the last motes of energy from the giant blue explosion, along with the rain of rubble, she could make out those infuriating flames of Schala's still burning brightly. Zeal herself was now close to running out of magic to draw on. Even Lavos' energy wasn't infinite, it seemed.

"Is that it? Is that all, Zeal?" Schala asked coldly as Greven and Ertai coughed behind her. Then, she saw Zeal's eyes lose focus in a very characteristic way. "What are you...? Oh, trying to see how I did it, eh?" Schala grinned.

'I... I can't defeat her!' Zeal realized. 'I can't hurt her, and I can't see where she's getting her power from... It's over...'

"I won't give you the time to do it!!" Schala roared. "You're done!! Holy Comet!!!" Schala thrust both hands forward, perpendicular to her arms, and a ball of energy as bright as the sun rocketed toward Zeal, leaving a distinctly comet-like trail behind it. Zeal desperately threw up another shield, but the burst of energy tore right through it, impacted on her chest, and exploded. And exploded, and exploded, and exploded... Many secondary explosions were blasting Zeal's downed form, steadily increasing in intensity instead of dissipating. Finally, they culminated in another gigantic blast that blew out most of the walls in what was now the third floor this battle had taken place on.

"Ugh..." Zeal staggered back to her feet, distressed to feel blood in her mouth once again. She had used the last of her power to keep herself in one piece, and it seemed that it still hadn't been enough. She really couldn't win here. It was time for a tactical withdrawal. Zeal raised her arms up as if she was about to cast another spell, then made a mad dash for the broken remnants of the wall. But as she put her arm on a pile of jagged bricks, preparing to jump over, her body froze in place, against her will. 'What?!' She demanded of herself. She could tell from the way the shadows in the room had changed that Schala had covered at least half of the distance between them while her back was turned. But now, Schala was waiting as well. 'Damn, I'm going to be immortal! I can't die here!'

'If Lavos' energy isn't infinite, how exactly can it make you immortal?' A disturbingly familiar voice asked Zeal. 'Schala was right,' The voice thought smugly. 'You're done.'

Zeal turned shakily back toward Schala's glowing, fiery form, tears in her eyes now. "Well, you're Vigo's daughter all right. Now finish it." She smiled.

"Mother?" Schala's voice quavered. "No, if we managed to bring your true self out again-"

"It doesn't matter." Zeal shook her head. "Even if you landed the continent and destroyed the Mammon Machine right now, I couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't take over again. It's far too big of a risk." Now, she looked over at Greven. "I'm sorry for what I tried to do to you. Please, take good care of my daughter. You too." She nodded at Ertai, then turned back to Schala. "I love you, and I couldn't be more proud. As I said before, you'll be a far better ruler than I ever was. Now please, Schala, obey my final order as Queen. Send me to your father." Zeal clasped her hands behind her back.

Schala couldn't move for a second. "Damn it!" She cursed. 'It's what she wants!' She told herself, and she was well aware that she'd been completely prepared to kill Zeal until about a minute ago. "Damn it!!" She held her right hand up, and it began to take on a brilliant yellow glow. "I'm going to kill him. I swear it! I WILL kill him!!" Schala cried.

"I know it." Zeal smiled gently. "Now, don't give me any more time. Finish it."

"Mom... I love you." Schala whispered. She hadn't had many occasions to say that in recent years, and she was afraid she was going to start sobbing before she even got her spell out. "Haaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!! STARBLAAAAAAAAAAST!!!!!!!!!!" Much like her previous use of Star magic, a four foot orb of energy appeared in front of Schala, but this one exploded forward, forming an ever growing cone of incredibly destructive energy. Zeal was completely vaporised before the spell even really got going.

Once again, every Zealian outside at the time saw the spectacular energy burst, and there were a lot more for this second casting. This explosion could be heard at Enhasa, as well as seen, and the people of Kajar felt the ground rumbling beneath their feet. The energy shot up into the stratosphere for several seconds, before finally disappearing, leaving behind a quiet, starry night.

The glowing lines and magical flames that enveloped Schala had disappeared even before her spell was finished. Now, the short Dreamstone sword slipped from the suddenly numb fingers of her left hand, hitting the floor with a clang just a split second before Schala's knees did. She quickly put her hands to her face, more as an automatic response than because she was ashamed of the tears streaming down her cheeks. "You'll pay, Lavos." She growled. "You'll pay in spades..."

Greven quickly went to sit down on Schala's right, and he put his left arm around her shoulders. "It's okay," he said softly. "It's what she wanted. What the real her wanted, anyway."

"It's not okay!" Schala cried, and Greven instantly wondered if he should have left her alone for a little while before trying to console her. But then, she buried her head in his chest, her arms going around his torso in a death grip. "She wasn't OLD, Greven! She didn't live a full life! She was thirty six years old, and she spent most of the last seven years slowly being taken over by Lavos..." Greven had no idea what to say, so he just slowly caressed her back with his one arm. "And, she spent her youth fighting against her destiny so much, it took her a long time to recognize how much my father really loved her..."

"Destiny?" Greven finally found a way to break into her thoughts. "I thought you didn't believe in that stuff."

"I don't." Schala sniffled. "What I mean is, twenty years ago, the human population was so low, many women were pregnant as often as possible, and were naturally home taking care of the kids all the time..." She explained, her tears starting to dry. "Mother hated the thought of having nothing to define her life but her children, and she also hated the thought of being tied down to any man. What she valued above everything else was freedom... Are you seeing the bitter irony here?" She looked up at Greven.

"Yeah..." He nodded slowly. "So how did your father change her mind?" He asked, trying to get Schala's train of thought to head off in a happier direction.

"They actually never told me about that specifically," Schala said. "But I overheard them reminiscing one night. Apparently, Mom wasn't convinced she'd made the right choice until after the wedding ceremony, when they were on their way to the reception."

"Then why'd she even agree to marry him?" Greven wondered, a smile on his face now.

"Oh, she knew he loved her, and they'd been having a pretty good time together during the engagement period, but she wasn't completely sure the marriage was going to work until that one moment, just before they got to the reception. She was complaining about how uncomfortable the wedding dress was, and how it was too light for our altitude, anyway. Apparently he stopped walking, turned to look in her eyes, and said something to the effect of, 'You'll be as free as I can make you.'"

Greven mulled that over for a minute. "I gotta admit, I doubt that's something I would say to a woman I'd just married."

"'**A** woman'?" Schala asked. Then she sat up and slapped him, very lightly. "Why are you speaking hypothetically here, you jackass? Do you have another bride in mind, besides me?"

Greven blinked, then shook his head rapidly. "No! It's just, the one time we talked about getting married, you said it was impossible in the world we lived in."

"And it WAS impossible while Mother was still in charge." She nodded. "But I'M in charge now." A big grin lit up her face for a second, but it quickly turned to a look of worry. "I'm in charge now... Holy crap, I'm in charge now!"

"You sure are." Greven smiled softly. "Orders?" He kidded.

"Yeah..." The smile returned to her face. "Before anyone else gets here, ask me to marry you." With that, she got back to her feet.

Greven wearily got up to one knee, then wobbled for a second before stretching his left arm out. "Whoah, still kind of off-center here."

"We'll fix that. Somehow..." Schala bit her lip.

"That can wait." Greven smiled. "What's important right now is, you make me happier than I ever thought I could be, and on top of that, you just took over the world, motivated mainly by concern for my safety. I would have to be a fool of the highest order not to ask, Schala, will you marry me?"

The big grin that had flashed across her face for a split second reappeared now, and stayed. "Yes, I will." She said simply. Then, Greven was back on his feet, and she wrapped her arms around his back again, nuzzling her head up against his neck. "For a minute there, I was afraid I was going to lose you..." She whispered.

"For a minute there, I was afraid of the same thing." Greven's smile disappeared now. "Really, talk about your 'nick of time' rescues. A few seconds later and I would have been toast, literally."

"Nah, you could've won on your own if you hadn't had to fight Dalton first." Schala reassured him.

"That's... not even remotely true." Greven chuckled. "But, I could have finished Dalton off if Zeal hadn't saved him..." Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Dalton! Where is he?"

Schala and Greven broke apart, scanning the broken, rubble strewn chamber. The only other person they could see was Ertai, sitting calmly on a pile of rubble. "I already looked around while you two were having your moment." Ertai shrugged, a crooked grin on his face. "There's no sign of him. Either he was vaporised completely, or he got away."

"Well then, the first thing we need to do is get a search started..." Schala began to stride briskly toward the stairwell that led down to the next level of the tower, but before she got there, Melchior appeared on the landing, looking almost ill.

That is, until he saw Schala heading his way. "Oh, thank God." He put a hand to his heart, and a smile appeared on his face. "I'm relieved to see that you're all right, your highness. Is Queen Zeal...?" He trailed off, not entirely sure how to phrase the question.

"She's with my father now." Schala replied sadly.

"Well, the other Gurus should be here shortly." Melchior looked back over his shoulder at the stairwell, but no one was there yet. "In any event, I await your orders, Queen Schala."

For some reason, Schala felt uncomfortable with that title, but she realized she would just have to get used to it. She beckoned for Greven and Ertai to follow her to the stairs. "First thing's first. We need to get everyone available searching for Dalton. He is to be considered extremely dangerous, and now he's in a desperate situation." She said as she began heading down the stairs, blinking as the relative darkness of the open night sky was replaced by the golden glow of the Zeal Palace's interior.

"Do we have any idea where Dalton might go to hide?" Melchior asked.

"Well, are there still any ruins in the old Besrodan capital?" Greven asked.

"What?" Everyone else turned to face him.

"Yeah, he told me his whole sob story." Greven smirked. "He's Besrodan. Apparently, his parents were part of that final one hundred that King Grego spared, and in their eyes, they were just biding their time, waiting for the right moment to strike."

"That explains a lot." Schala folded her arms. "It explains why he wanted to kill me so badly, anyway. It doesn't explain why he wanted to kill you just as much, though."

Greven shrugged, relieved to find that the gesture caused no pain in his empty shoulder socket. "Apparently, he was afraid that we were on our way to creating another generation of the Alleganian royal family, and that thought drove him nuts. I guess that completely cancelled out the fact that I have a fair share of Besrodan blood, too."

"You do?" Schala and Melchior both asked. "He probably didn't even know that." Schala guessed. "I sure didn't."

"Yeah, my grandfather was a knight captain in Besroda during the early years of the war." Greven nodded, then turned to Ertai. "What was his name?"

"Um..." Ertai thought for a second. "Crovax. Crovax Vecar."

Melchior was staring at Ertai in shock now. "Your grandfather was Crovax the Cursed?"

Ertai smiled. "Apparently. I doubt that he actually called himself that, though..."

Melchior just shook his head as he continued on down the stairs. "Good Lord. If King Grego knew that his granddaughter was involved with the grandson of Crovax the Cursed..." He let out a nervous laugh. "Well, I'm glad you kids haven't let yourselves be tied down by the conflicts of the past."

"I had no idea." Schala admitted. "Not that it changes anything." She looked back at Greven.

"Right." He nodded. "Besides, after Allegan successfully occupied Besroda, a fair number of Besrodans and Alleganians got married, even while the war was still officially going on."

"Love always finds a way." Melchior nodded. "At any rate, it sounds like the ruins of Bestetla would be a good place to start the search." With that, they arrived at the base of the tower, and found Gapsar and Belthasar hurrying toward the stairwell.

"Princess! Are you all right?" Gaspar asked with a worried look. "I tried to help earlier, but my stop devices seemed to have no effect..."

"We're okay, mostly." Schala nodded. "Don't worry about it. I had some help anyway."

"Barely." Ertai snorted. "You clearly could have won that battle single-handedly, Schala, as long as Dalton stayed out of it." Then, he looked over at his brother. "Greven, you and I are going to have to get a lot stronger..."

"You won the battle?" Belthasar raised his eyebrows. "So that means..."

Melchior grinned. "Gentlemen, allow me to introduce the new Queen of Zeal Kingdom." He gestured at Schala.

"We're changing the name." Schala said in response.

"Pardon?" All three of the Gurus asked.

"Even if my mother renaming the kingdom after herself WASN'T the height of arrogance, it's still the name we switched to after we started using Lavos' energy." Schala explained. "We're going back to the name my father chose for his mountain in the sky. We will known as the Kingdom of Enhasa once more."

"Are we going to stop using Lavos' energy, then?" Gaspar wondered.

"I... don't know." Schala put a hand to her head, frowning. "I don't know what else we can use, but there's no telling when someone else might become possessed, especially with the Mammon Machine gathering more energy than ever before."

"There are a lot of things we need to go over." Belthasar nodded. "But, I think that can wait until at least tomorrow morning."

"But, we need to start searching for Dalton." Schala protested.

"We will. We're on top of it." Melchior nodded. "You, however, deserve to get some rest. Given the fact that Greven is here in the middle of the night, I'd be willing to bet that defeating a Lavos-possessed sorceress isn't the only strenuous activity you've been engaging in this evening."

"Well, no..." Schala blushed, looking at the floor.

"So you just relax." Belthasar assured her. "We'll get the palace guards organized into search parties, don't worry." With that, the three Gurus began to walk off.

"Well..." Greven looked around the palace. "Where are we gonna sleep?"

"We could go back to Enhasa..." Ertai shrugged.

"It's fine if you do, but I want to stay close to my brothers." Schala answered.

"Then I guess... The Queen's chambers would be the place to go." Greven said hesistantly.

"I suppose." Schala blew a stray strand of hair out of her face, and Greven smiled. "What?"

"That looks a LOT cuter on you than it did on your mother." He said.

"Well, I'll be back in the morning, then." Ertai smiled. "Unless we track down Dalton before then, in which case, I want to help bring him in."

"We'll give you a shout if he turns up." Greven nodded. "But you know, he might have been killed."

"Maybe." Ertai admitted. "But I'm not going to assume that's the case." With that, he teleported away.

.

Schala and Greven were seated at the head table in the main dining hall, waiting for the Queen's chambers to be cleaned up a bit. They were far from alone in the hall, as the earlier battle had woken up just about everyone in the entire kingdom. Schala had considered calling everyone to the throne room for an official announcement, but decided that could wait for morning. Besides, everyone would notice soon enough that Zeal and Dalton were nowhere to be found in the palace, while there was a previously unknown person sitting at the royal table. Regime change was written on the wall. A heavy sigh escaped through her nose.

"Problem?" Greven asked, taking a sip from the coffee mug in his hand.

"Many." Schala answered simply. "We have a LOT to do tomorrow."

"We sure do." Greven admitted. "But thanks to you, there's going to be a tomorrrow, and many more after that."

Schala's eyes rested on the empty right sleeve of the shirt he was now wearing. "Your arm is definitely high on my list of priorities. We'll get to work on that after the big stuff is taken care of tomorrow."

Greven smiled, more softly than usual. "Well, I'd definitely like to have it back, but my right arm was most definitely turned into charcoal. Then that charcoal was vaporised by one of the giant explosions." Then, he looked right into Schala's eyes. "Besides, if my right arm was all I had to give up to be with you, then it was a very small price to pay."

'Wow...' Schala felt her heart fluttering. She scooted her chair over closer to Greven's, then leaned up and whispered in his ear, "Do you think you've got a little energy left?"

Greven looked at her in surprise, though still smiling. "Aren't you tired?"

"Very." Schala's mischevious grin remained in place. "But somehow, I doubt that I'll get much sleep tonight anyway. So... what do you think?"

Greven pushed his chair back from the table. "I think, that bed's gotta be ready by now."

Schala took his left hand in her right. "Good. Then let's go mess it up." Her face took on a serious look once again. "Tonight was only the beginning, Greven. The main battle is still ahead of us." Then, she squeezed his hand. "But, it was only the beginning of the good stuff too..."

.

"I thought that we would only be together in death..." - Latika, _Slumdog Millionaire_

(Nanaki's note: Let's get the obvious question out of the way first: Why didn't Schala transform like that during the original Mount Woe? That's simple: She was too angry. She used the skills she already had pretty well, but she was too blinded by rage to bother trying to invent new ones. Yes, Schala did indeed use many spells you've never heard of in this chapter, though saying she was making them up as she went along isn't quite right... **I** was making them up as I went along. As for the in-universe explanation, being able to see every magical wavelength at the same time let Schala see some new possibilities for spellcasting, much like Vigo's battle against Serges in Mount Woe chapter 14. Finally, what exactly WAS Schala's transformation, anyway? Did she go "Super Human" like Krillin in all those cheesy old Dragon Ball Z fics? No. Other than that, I'm going to leave it somewhat mysterious for now...

On an unrelated note, Slumdog Millionaire is quite possibly the best movie I've seen since Princess Mononoke. If you haven't seen it yet, I strongly urge you to check it out.)


	4. Earthbound No More

**The Aftermath of Mount Woe: Kash's World**

**Chapter 4: Earthbound No More**

By Nanaki

August 2nd, 12,002 B.C.

Schala found herself seated in a comfortable chair next to Janus' bed, watching the night sky out the bedroom window slowly turning grey with predawn light. Janus had actually passed out last night from a particularly terrible vision, right after he had foreseen that, "Something terrible is about to happen! To you, Schala, and maybe to... to..." Immediately after that, Schala had felt an upwelling of the black wind so strong that she'd almost wanted to break down crying herself. But that had fortunately prompted her to return to her room, originally with the intent of getting Greven away from the palace. Schala now assumed that the "and maybe to..." part referred to Greven, but she was still going to ask Janus to finish that sentence when he woke up.

For now though, her brother appeared to be sleeping peacefully, and she wasn't about to wake him up. Greven was also sleeping like a log, and she had just checked in on Lathain and saw that her infant brother was sound asleep too, which was somewhat unusual. Rather than wake everyone up and try to get things started, Schala was savoring the relative quiet in the Zeal Palace right now. Aside from a few members of the kitchen staff who were already starting to get breakfast ready, plus a few remaining guards, everyone who wasn't out searching for Dalton was sound asleep. Unfortunately, Schala had correctly guessed that she wouldn't be getting much sleep herself. She had been woken up by nightmares after only about three hours, and though Greven's presence was very soothing, she still hadn't been able to get back to sleep. So, rather than wake him up with her tossing and turning, she'd decided to check up on Janus...

She must have actually fallen asleep in the chair, because the next thing she knew, pink, dawn sunlight was visible on the cirrus clouds outside. Looking to her left, she decided that she'd probably woken up because Janus was starting to stir. The little guy stretched and yawned, then looked right over at her. "Schala! You're okay!"

"Yes, I'm okay." She said softly, moving over to sit on his bed.

"I was so worried!" Janus scrambled out from under the covers and threw himself into her arms.

"Well, so was I." Schala admitted, squeezing him back.

"What happened?" Janus didn't waste any more time before asking.

Schala let out a sigh through her nose, not looking forward to this part. "Mother's gone." She said in the same soft tone of voice.

"Gone?" Janus wondered.

"Yes, she's dead." Schala whispered.

Janus frowned, seeming to think about the implications of this news for a minute, before deciding how he felt about it. "Good." He said simply.

Schala felt like crying again. True, Zeal had mostly passed off the responsibility of taking care of Janus to a succession of nannies, but she hadn't completely ignored him. Schala could remember a two year old Janus being happily bounced up and down on Zeal's knee even as the Queen ordered her underlings around. As far as Schala knew, Zeal had never struck Janus or even yelled at him, so she was pretty sure Janus had picked up this negative view of their mother from his own older sister. "No, not good." Schala said. "But, I'm afraid it was necessary."

"You did it?" Janus guessed.

"Yes," Schala sighed again, "I did it."

"It makes sense." Janus said calmly. "I knew you were stronger." Janus didn't show the slightest sign of being upset, which did nothing to cheer Schala up. She didn't really want to scold him, but she felt that she had to say something.

"Janus, I know you didn't know Mother before Lavos, but believe me when I say, there was a time when she was a great Mom." Janus just looked at her skeptically. "Now come on, let's go get some breakfast." She set him down on the floor, and they headed out the door.

.

Gaspar found them just as they were finishing up. "Highness, we've combed Bestetla pretty thoroughly already, and there's no sign of anyone so far." He summed the situation up.

Schala drummed her fingers on the tabletop in thought. "Hmm... Well, keep at it for now. But, go ahead and switch out those who were searching all night for some fresh guards."

"If it's all right with you, we'll go ahead and bring everyone up, but wait to continue the search until you've made your first official announcement." Gaspar said.

"My 'official' announcement?" Schala wondered.

Gaspar merely raised an eyebrow, then glanced around at the main dining hall, which was nearly full already, despite the fact that it was barely eight in the morning, and despite the fact that the battle had woken the entire palace up during the night. Many of the citizens were repeatedly glancing up toward the royal table, as if they were scrutinizing Schala for some change. "I don't think you're going to be able to put it off for long." Gaspar said reasonably.

"You're right." Schala nodded. "All right then, go ahead and bring everyone up. I'll aim to get started in about fifteen minutes. And we might as well stay right here, since we won't get even a tenth of these people into the throne room."

"Yes, your majesty." Gaspar bowed, then teleported away. Schala frowned again. Coming from the Gurus, at least, the formal titles seemed out of place.

"Why do you have to make a 'nouncement'?" Janus wondered, idly stabbing at some scrambled eggs he probably wasn't going to finish.

"Because the people need to know what's going on." Schala answered simply. She thought about rounding up some guards to spread the word, but evidently, just about everyone had managed to hear her conversation with Gaspar. Within a few minutes, all the chairs and benches in the dining hall were full, and the walls began to fill up with people leaning against them. Shortly after, the three Gurus entered the hall, dozens of guards filing in behind them. Schala realized that they weren't going to be able to cram many more people in here anyway, so she might as well get started.

She stood up, and held her hands up for silence. All the various conversations taking place in the huge hall died out in just a few seconds. People toward the back of the hall were standing up on tiptoe, trying to get a glimpse of her. "Good morning, loyal subjects of Zeal Kingdom!" Schala called out. "And, any disloyal subjects here might as well listen in too." She cracked a smile, and a few nervous giggles could be heard in the hall. "There are some important things I need to tell you this morning. As anyone who wasn't in a coma last night is probably aware, a significant battle has taken place in the Zeal Palace. The battle was between myself and my mother, and, as you can probably guess, I won." There were a few gasps of surprise, but not much other noise in the hall.

"This was not a battle I WANTED to fight." Schala continued. "But my mother had been completely possessed by Lavos, and tried to kill someone I loved very much. I stepped in to defend him, and well, things kind of escalated from there." Schala's voice got quieter.

Melchior stepped up beside her. "Highness, may I say a few words?"

"Please." Schala nodded, and took a step back.

"I just want to say, I think it shows amazing restraint on her highness' part that she waited as long as she did." Melchior announced. "Queen Zeal was leading this kingdom to certain disaster, and had become a rather dangerous person to be around. It is a testament to what a faithful and loving daughter the Princess really was that, when I met her just after the battle last night, she had clearly been crying."

Now, Belthasar stepped forward as well. "Though it's fairly common knowledge, I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that the Princess has been King Vigo's official heir since she was four years old. Really, we should have done this as soon as Vigo died, but we all had other things on our minds back then... At any rate..." Belthasar unfolded his arms from behind his back, to reveal that he was holding a rather delicate looking, but decidedly beautiful crown. "I have the distinct honor of presenting to you all..." He placed the crown gingerly on Schala's head, then stepped back with a bow. "Queen Schala of Enhasa!!"

Despite a few confused murmurings about the use of "Enhasa" instead of Zeal, the dining hall was filled with deafening applause. Though the Gurus appeared to be simply standing and smiling, all three were actually keeping an eye out for anyone not applauding. To their relief, there didn't appear to be more than one or two.

"Thank you, Belthasar." Schala said, a bit overwhelmed by the reaction. "As well as a great honor, this is a heavy responsibility, and I assure you all, I intend to take it seriously." The hall had grown quiet once again. "But first, to clear up any confusion, as my first OFFICIAL act, I'm changing the name of our kingdom back to Enhasa. This is the name my father chose for his mountain in the sky, and this is the name I grew up thinking of as home. However, the name of the Zeal Palace will remain the same. Let us not forget that there was a time when my mother truly was a great ruler. If not for her, the Weapons probably would have killed us all eight years ago, and I doubt that the kingdom would have achieved its current size or advancements without her." There was another round of applause, and Schala waited for it to die down.

"As my second official act, I want everyone to try to find a way to keep our kingdom in the sky without using Lavos' energy OR the planet's energy." Schala said forcefully. She was pretty sure that with her newfound powers, she could win a battle against Violen now, but she sure didn't WANT to. Not if there was another way. "I know that may not be possible, but I don't want us using that monster's energy for a split second longer than we have to." There were a lot of confused murmurings in response to this, but Schala forged ahead.

"Now for my third act, and the one that will probably require the most effort in the short term. The ban on Earthbound Ones in the kingdom is hereby lifted, as of right now." Schala had expected this to be the one that got the least approval, but to her surprise, a fair amount of applause broke out in the hall. "Well, thank you. As far as I can tell, the reason we sent the magic-less back to the ground in the first place has long since ceased to be an issue. Anyone who wants to come is welcome, but anyone who wants to stay on the ground is free to do so. By the same token, any Enlightened Ones who want to go live on the ground can feel free to do that. It's up to you."

Schala frowned in thought for a moment. "I guess that's about it for right now. Anyone with urgent concerns can feel free to come see me in the throne room any time today, and if I'm not there, there'll at least be someone who does know where I am. But, if you just want a favor that you were too nervous to ask my mother for... Well, let's try to space those out a little bit, anyway." She grinned. "I don't want to have to deal with ALL of those today." Another ripple of laughter ran though the crowd. "All right, that's all the orders I'm going to give right now. Have a good day, everyone!" Schala waved, then turned back to the Gurus. She had to wait a few moments for the applause to die down before they could speak. "Where did you get this crown, Belthasar?" She asked when she could make herself heard again.

Belthasar had a sad look on his face now. "Well, since neither of your parents' crowns survived their owner's passing, we took a look in the treasury for alternatives. Fortunately, we came across this one, which belonged to your grandmother, Queen Nyssa."

"But if it's a little too old fashioned for you, I can probably make you a brand new one within a couple days." Melchior volunteered.

"Oh, not at all. This is beautiful!" Schala smiled, adjusting the crown on her head slightly. "Anyway, we need to start finding space for the Earthbound Ones up here, because I'm sure there are going to be a fair amount. If necessary, we can even put them up in tents down by the lake, but that's not going to cut it as a permanent solution."

"So, sounds like we need some new buildings in Kajar and Enhasa." Belthasar mulled that over.

"That's one possibility." Schala shrugged. "I'll leave you three in charge of the logistics, but for right now, I'm ordering you to get some rest."

"With all due respect, your highness, I don't think you can ORDER someone to get some rest." Gaspar smiled.

"Well, then just lie on your bed and stare at the ceiling. But in any case, you are officially off-duty for the next eight hours. Now go!" Schala pointed toward the dining hall's main entrance.

"You should know by now not to argue with the Queen." Melchior laughed, grabbing Gaspar by the arm. "I don't know about you, but I'M ready for bed, anyway."

Schala watched the Gurus go, and observed that the dining hall was slowly returning to an almost normal crowd, as opposed to being filled past capacity. She walked down to a table filled with young guards who looked like they were about to finish eating. As a few of them noticed her approach, they quickly started elbowing each other in the ribs and sat up straighter, wiping their mouths with their napkins or anything else handy. "Good morning, gentlemen."

"Highness! Good morning!" Came simultaneously from eight voices trying to sound smooth, though only two of them actually were.

"I was wondering if one of you could pass along a message for me." Schala smiled sweetly.

"Of course!" They all started to scramble to their feet, until the leader of their unit stood up, motioning for all the rest to stay still. "I'd be happy to, your highness." He bowed slightly.

"Thank you. Lieutenant...?" Schala glanced at his rank insignia.

"Masters, your majesty. Veric Masters." He was clearly pleased that she was taking the trouble to learn his name.

"Anyway, Lieutenant, I'm hoping you can get word to the Vecar family in Algetty that, whether they want to stay on the ground or come up here, I'd like to see them all in the throne room at the earliest opportunity." Schala said.

"I'll deliver the message personally, your majesty." Masters bowed again, then strode briskly for the door. At the table, his men quickly scarfed down any remaining food, then hurried after him. Schala found that a slight grin remained on her face. Coming from a young man not too much older than she was, the 'your majesty' title felt a lot more appropriate.

"Hmm..." Janus grumbled from beside her.

"What's wrong, Janus?" Schala raised an eyebrow.

"I don't like the way he was looking at you." Janus mumbled.

"Oh? How was he looking at me?" Schala asked with a grin on her face.

Janus thought about that for a second, before responding, "The same way Ertai does."

"Really?" The smile remained on Schala's face. "Well Janus, in all honesty, a lot more guys are probably going to be looking at me that way now, at least until my wedding is announced."

"Why's that?" Janus wondered, frowning.

"Because, there's a lot of people out there who like the idea of being the King, without realizing how much work it would actually be." Schala explained, looking a little sad now.

"I don't get it." Janus admitted.

"Never mind." Schala shook her head. "We probably ought to be heading to the throne room."

"Why do I have to go?" Janus complained.

Schala shrugged. "Well, you don't HAVE to. But do you have anything better to do?"

.

It had been a LONG morning. The people were not doing a good job of honoring her request to stretch out asking her for favors they'd been too afraid to ask Queen Zeal for. At least, it didn't feel like it, though Schala knew it was quite possible that they actually were. Representatives from just about every department in the government had already stopped by to ask for new equipment, additional funding, and/or more personnel. Even Gaspar's Magical Research Bureau had sent an envoy, undoubtedly without Gaspar's knowledge, because Schala was pretty sure he wouldn't have bothered her right now. To top it off, the envoy they sent, while very respectful, had given off such an air of smugness that he seemed to think HE was the one who had defeated Queen Zeal. What was his name again? Ah yes, Thiek C. Smada. Schala was going to have to keep an eye on that one...

A sigh escaped through her nose, and she took another sip out of the coffee cup that was resting on the left arm of the throne. To top it off, the throne was really not very comfortable, she was sorry to find out. Yet even so, she was in danger of falling asleep where she sat. Janus had taken off a while ago, clearly bored out of his little skull. Right now, the throne room was actually empty for the first time all day, and Schala was trying to savor the moment, while simultaneously trying to stay awake. However, it seemed that it was impossible to do both at once. She stood up and started pacing back and forth, hoping that walking around would help keep her awake.

It wasn't long before more footsteps could be heard coming up to the throne room. Schala turned back toward the door, trying to look alert and friendly, though she wasn't sure that she was succeeding. But her eyebrows did raise a bit when she saw that the young woman in the entryway looked vaguely familiar. "Good morning, your highness." She said with a bow.

"Good morning." Schala nodded, looking thoughtful. "We've met before, haven't we?"

"Technically, yes." The young woman nodded, smiling. "Though we were both around four years old at the time. We're distant cousins. Your father and my mother were cousins, so I'm not even sure what that makes us..."

Schala shrugged. "Let's see... Your name is Karyssa, right?"

The young woman grinned. "Good memory, your highness. That's right."

"So Karyssa, what can I do for you?" Schala asked.

Karyssa looked puzzled for a second, before responding. "Um, nothing, I guess. I just wanted to say, congratulations! And I also wanted you to know, if there's anything I can do to help out, I'm at your service."

"So, you DON'T have some urgent concern that needs my attention RIGHT AWAY?" Schala asked, wide-eyed.

"Uh... no." Karyssa looked even more confused.

"Well, that makes you my favorite visitor so far today." Schala grinned. "There's nothing I need help with right now, but feel free to sit at the royal table next time we're both in the dining hall at the same time. We have some catching up to do."

"I'd like that." Karyssa bowed again, then turned to leave as more footsteps could be heard in the hallway outside.

Schala was immensely relieved to see Greven walking into the throne room. He was looking at everything around him with an impressed expression on his face, and Schala suddenly realized that he actually hadn't ever been in here before. "Hey, good morning." He said softly as he gave her the best hug he could with one arm.

"Is it still morning?" Schala groaned. "I was really hoping it was past noon by now."

"I dunno. I just woke up." Greven shrugged. "So, what was that about?" He nodded toward the door Karyssa had just left through.

"It seems some of my father's relatives are suddenly concerned about the line of succession." Schala answered easily. "Though she didn't actually bring it up, which I appreciated."

"Why would they be concerned about that?" Greven frowned. "It seems pretty clear cut to me. If something were to happen to you, then Janus would be King..."

"That would be the conclusion to jump to, but remember, Janus is not Vigo's son." Schala reminded him. "If something happens to me before I have an heir, my father's more distant relatives would have a decent shot at putting one of their own on the throne, especially if I hadn't officially named a successor."

"You know, I think I can help out with that whole heir business." Greven grinned.

"Oh, not for a while yet, please." Schala laughed, settling back onto the throne. "Though my mother COMPLETELY overreacted to the possibility, I don't want to have any kids while I'm still a teenager."

"Well then, sounds like we should draw up some paperwork officially naming Janus as your successor." Greven suggested.

"Hmm..." Schala thought that over for a minute. "Nah, I don't think so. I love him, but I really don't think Janus has the right personality to be a king. No, if something happens to both of us before we have any children, I want Ertai to be King."

"Really?" Greven looked surprised. "What about Lathain?"

Schala shrugged. "What ABOUT Lathain? He's an infant. As of yet, we have no idea what his personality is going to be like, plus, even I don't have the slightest clue as to who his father might be."

"Not even a guess?" Greven raised an eyebrow.

"The only possible candidate would seem to be Dalton, but I hate that thought too much to even consider it." Schala shuddered theatrically. "Besides, Dalton acted like someone who was still trying hard to get close to the Queen, not someone who already WAS close."

"Good point." Greven nodded.

"Anyway, all this successor talk is probably idle speculation." Schala shrugged. "I don't know about you, but I plan on being around for a long time."

"Yeah, me too." Greven smiled. "Especially after that close call last night." They both turned at the sound of many footsteps in the hallway, to see Ertai hurrying into the throne room.

"Hey guys, guess who I found in the palace?" He grinned, then gestured behind him. Greven was surprised to see his whole family filing into the throne room, his father in the lead, with a palace guard he didn't recognize bringing up the rear.

"What's going on here?" Greven wondered out loud.

"I asked them all to come up here for a visit." Schala explained. "Good work, Lieutenant Masters." Schala nodded at the guard. "You can leave us alone now. I doubt they're going to start any trouble." She said with a pointed glance at Vuel.

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that." Greven snorted.

"What ARE we doing here?" Vuel Vecar demanded. "And where's the Queen? That Enlightened brat said the Queen wanted to see us."

A big smirk appeared on Greven's face. "You're looking at the Queen." He gestured at Schala.

"Her?" Vuel's eyebrows went up in surprise.

"Me." Schala nodded smugly. However, their impending staredown was ruined as Greven's mother rushed forward.

"Greven, what happened to your arm?!" Hanna shrieked, clutching at his empty shirt sleeve.

"I'm all right Mom, I'm all right!" Greven tried to wave her away, to no avail. "Ertai, didn't you tell them anything?" He demanded.

"Hey, I just ran into them right as they were coming up to the entrance." Ertai shrugged. "But, to make a long story short: Dalton and then Queen Zeal tried to kill Greven, then Schala stepped in to protect Greven, and the good guys won."

"Good guys?" Vuel snorted. "So one Lavos worshipper has been replaced by another. Is that supposed to be good news?"

"You know what, Dad?" Greven instantly spoke up. "You can go fuck yourself with a rusty sword."

Schala decided to cut in before Vuel could respond. "Tell me Vuel, are you this sweet to all the ladies, or am I just special?" She asked with a dangerous smile on her face.

"No, he's like this with pretty much everyone." Hanna said quietly, then quickly added, "Greven, watch your language."

"Dad, you really need to work on your manners." Greven said smugly as he sat down on the steps in front of the throne. "Because that is no way to talk to your future daughter-in-law."

"Daughter-in-law?" Vuel sputtered. "You mean, you two...?"

"Yes, Schala and I are going to be getting married." Greven's grin got even bigger.

"But that means, you're going to be the King..." Vuel looked like he didn't believe it.

"He's a little slow on the uptake, isn't he?" Schala asked Greven.

"Oh, congratulations, you two!" Hanna smiled, then leaned over to whisper in Greven's ear, "Now don't screw it up."

"There's something else you should know, if Lieutenant Masters didn't tell you." Schala's smile shifted from smug to genuine. "I've lifted the ban on all Earthbound Ones, so you're free to stay up here if you want. Or not. It's up to you."

"Are we supposed to be jumping for joy?" Vuel demanded.

"Vuel! What is wrong with you?" Hanna scolded him. "That's great news, your highness." Hanna smiled again.

"Schala works just fine." Schala smiled back.

"No, it's not great news!" Vuel shook his head. "It's welcome news, yes, but it's also sixteen years late!"

"Dad, you're talking to the ruler of the world here!" Greven shouted, sounding more exasperated than mad. "So start showing some respect, or you're gonna get hit!"

"So it's, 'Do what I say, or else you'll get punished'?" Vuel summed up. "Wow, what a great king YOU'RE going to make, son." With that, he turned and walked out of the throne room.

"Please, don't mind him, Miss Schala." Hanna said as she knelt down to reassure her younger children, who were staring wide-eyed at their father's departure. "I think... he's just been angry at the Enlightened Ones for so long, it's hard for him to accept the concept of not being angry anymore."

"It's all right." Schala sighed. "Hate... is a hard thing to let go of."

Now Hanna prodded the kids closest to her. "Hey, why don't you guys go give your future sister-in-law a hug?"

"What? Ack!" Schala cried out as a horde of giggling little Vecars rushed up to the throne. "Okay, nice to see you again too... Ow! Kamahl, you're pulling my hair... Don't worry, Mirri, I didn't forget you..."

"She... remembered all their names." Hanna said quietly. "After only meeting them once. She..." Now she turned to look at Greven. "She's really something special, isn't she?"

"Yeah..." Greven smiled. "I've been finding that out."

.

"All right, what exactly happened at your meeting this morning?"

"I had to give an order to send - How did Karak put it? - oh yes, the "unenlightened ones" back to Allegan, to conserve the Sun Stone's energy."

"There was nothing else we could do?"

"No. Not in the short term anyway. We have to look for more energy sources while they're on the ground. But they won't be there forever. We just have to get them to understand that." - Queen Zeal and King Vigo, _The Origin of Mount Woe_

(Nanaki's note: So, here I am, needing to really bust my butt on Christmas in the Lost Ground if I want to get it done by Christmas, and what do I do? Finish up a chapter for a story I haven't updated in nine months. Oh well, the four of you who are actually reading this should be happy.

At any rate, I noticed something interesting, if not overly important, while I was rereading Mount Woe Chapters 25-37 recently. It's astonishing that I never noticed it before, given how many dozens of times I've read those chapters, but here it is: Unless we assume that there's an unwritten scene in the timeframe where Greven's getting killed that has Schala changing back into her normal clothes somewhere between Janus' room and her own room (Which is unlikely, to say the least.), then Schala fought that huge battle against Queen Zeal in nothing but a nightgown. Even in this universe, where Schala won, that nightgown probably had its share of sexy rips by the time the battle was over. If I was any kind of artist, I'd definitely get to work on a picture. That's not to say it would be overly perverted; I kind of picture her giving off a "Samurai Jack after a long battle against Aku" vibe. Of course, back in the "main" universe, where Schala lost the battle, that nightgown had to have been damn near destroyed. But if that was the worst thing I'd done to Schala in the main universe, I doubt that I would sincerely wish I could apologize to her whenever I reread Chapter 38. (Or the second Chapter 19, in the re-post here.)

Anyway, I don't know if I'll post another chapter of either of my CT stories before New Years or not. So if not, Happy Holidays to all my fellow CT fans! Here's hoping the New Year brings us news of an actual CT sequel (as well as Jade Empire 2), and that Mass Effect 2 doesn't get delayed like Alpha Protocol did.)


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